It would have been useless for me to communicate my suspicions to the American Minister in Paris. The diplomacy of the United States, blunt and self-reliant, takes little account of the subterranean intrigue which pervades European politics. But the Government of Washington was not the only factor concerned. As Europe is beginning to learn, the Union is a federation, not so much of those geographical divisions which are painted in different colours on the map, and called States, but of those vast organisations of capital which control the American electoral system, and fill the Senate with their delegates. Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Illinois--these are merely names for school children; the Silver Ring, the Steel Trust, the Cotton Trust, the Pork Trust--such are the true American Powers. During the whole of the Cuban negotiation the Sugar and Tobacco Trusts had been represented in Paris by agents whose object it was to avert an annexation of Cuba by the United States, an act which would, of course, mean the free admission of Cuban sugar and tobacco into the markets. Adonijah B. Stearine, the Sugar Agent, was a shrewd man, and I had no doubt I should find him a ready listener to what I had to say. Within an hour of Kehler’s departure, Mr. Stearine was seated in my office. I had to pick my words carefully not to break the promise of secrecy into which I had been beguiled. ‘I have just seen a secret agent who wanted me to help him in some trick to force on a war between the States and Spain.’ Stearine rolled his eyes and whistled thoughtfully. ‘Who sent him?’ ‘I can’t say. He refused to disclose his principal, and so I would have nothing to do with him.’ The Sugar Agent pursed up his lips, and frowned. ‘I guess this is a dodge of Bugg’s,’ he muttered. ‘What Bugg?’ ‘You don’t say you haven’t heard of Bugg--Milk W. Bugg, the Pork Trust’s man over here? I reckon Bugg is the smartest man in Chicago, and Chicago is the smartest town in the States, and the States is the smartest country on earth; so there you are.’ ‘The man who came to me is a German,’ I hinted. ‘Bugg’s smartness,’ was the comment. ‘He wanted me to think he came from Berlin.’ ‘Bugg is real smart,’ breathed Mr. Stearine with admiration. It was evident that the agent of the Sugar Trust was unable to see past the figure of his rival, which filled up his mental horizon. I did not consider it worth while to argue the point. ‘The question is, Do you want this to be stopped?’ I said. Stearine looked at me with something like surprise. ‘Think you can?’ he questioned briefly. ‘I know the man who is at work. I can shadow him and find out what he is doing.’ ‘You will have to be almighty quick about it,’ retorted the other. ‘When did this man get away!’ ‘Only an hour ago,’ Mr. Stearine gazed at me with a disconcerting scrutiny. Then he remarked slowly and emphatically--